July 2, 1894.] Supplement to the " Tropical Agriculturist. 
67 
felling the original forests 60 to 70 years ago- 
The Kandyan villagers prefer this dead wood 
to any other timber for building houses. These 
buildings rise like mushrooms to be soon lost 
sight of again, but the dead timber, like heir- 
looms, pass from generation to generation. 
In October last year a Eeuter's telegram 
appeared in the local newspapers referring to 
Sir Evelyn Wood's report in the Autumn Manoeu- 
vres which took place in England at that time, 
where it was said that coca leaves, used with a 
small quantity of slaked lime by the men, answered 
admirably in allaying thirst during the trying 
hot weather then prevailing in Europe. This 
ought to give another impetus to the coca plant 
being more extensively grown in Ceylon, as 
our climate has been found to be very favour- 
able to its growth. After a time the leaf 
might possibly come into use among the natives 
in place of betel leaves. Where the supply of 
betel reaves, arecanuts, tobacco and chunam 
fails, I have often seen the Sinhalese make 
a pawn of the bark of mora and ilia trees, 
the tender roots of the coconut palm, ash 
obtained by burning the wood of kumbuk trees 
or the tender leaf buds of the doon trees. 
The two last are substitutes for lime. 
An important commodity in the commerce of 
the island, chaya-root {Hedyotis umbellata) now 
almost forgotten, is referred to in the Indian 
Industries (1880, p. 118) in the following words: — 
" In Ceylon chay-root forms a considerable 
article of export, only a particular set of people 
are allowed to dig it, and at one time it was 
all bought up by Government, who gave the 
diggers a fixed price of 75 or 80 rix-dollars 
a candy ; it being sold for exportation at 
about 175 rix-dollars." The author, Mr. Eliot 
James, must no doubt have had some reliable 
authority for making the above statement, 
but to me it seems apocryphal. Since the 
discovery of chemical substitutes all vegetable 
dyes have been driven out of the markets of 
the world ; but as the present generation is 
just beginning to learn the deleterious effects, 
of these dyes on the human body, a reversion 
to the old genuine articles will soon follow. 
Already auatto, indigo, sappan, orchilla weed, 
&c, all valuable dye stuffs of former days, 
are to the front again, a sure sign that 
aniline dyes are not being used now for pur- 
poses for which the vegetable dyes are wanted'; 
hence 1 think Indian madder or chaya-root of which 
several species a re found growing wild in the island 
is likely to be sought for very soon. But not at 
such fabulous prices as dollars 175 per candy of 
600 lbs. ! 
The wild boar of Ceylon is to be found in 
every part of the island, and is a formidable 
enemy of the agriculturist. Be the produce 
grain, fruit or roots, woe be to the cultivator that 
neglects to properly fence his garden or watch 
his crop throughout the night with gun in hand. 
Scarecrows rattles and traps sometimes prove 
effective, but more often the boar is too cun- 
ning even for those who seek to capture ox- 
destroy him. lie is au animal despised by all 
when alive, but highly prized as a luxury at 
table ! But I have a word in favour of the 
boar, for he does us great service by indulging 
his voracious appetite in destroying and con- 
suming every venomous reptile and snake that 
comes in his way during his nocturnal wander- 
ings in search of food. 
In the First Steps in Economic Botany 
published in 1854, p. 65, I read : — " Formerly 
all the teas imported into Europe was exported 
from China ; its culture was however some 
time since attempted in Java, Penang, and 
Eio de Janeiro. After many failures it has 
fully succeeded, and large quantities are now 
raised in the two former places, and its 
cultivation is extending iu South America 
under the Brazilian Government." Now this 
was 40 years ago. It would be interesting 
to know whether the tea that had fully suc- 
ceeded in South America at that time is 
still in existence ; if not, what has been the 
cause of its failure ? 
All Products. 
» 
GLANDEES. 
The disease glanders or more properly Equinia 
claims many victims among horses of tem- 
perate climes. Till recently it was believed 
that glanders was rare in the East, but for 
some time past hundreds of cases of this malady 
have been met. It may have existed for a long 
period and escaped detection till after the advent 
of veterinary science, or it may have actually 
been non-existent at first, but introduced by 
horses imported from Europe. There is much 
in favour of entertaining the latter view, for, 
up to now no cases of glanders have been met 
with in the chief horse-breeding centres of 
the East, Persia and Arabia ; and such Arab 
horses as have contracted the disease have 
done so only after their arrival in India. 
The disease is fortunately still unknown in 
Australia, which if not the largest, is at least 
one of the largest horse-breeding countries of 
the world. Glanders is manifested in several 
ways. It is undoubtedly a malignant disease, 
contagious and infectious, communicated from 
horse to horse and from horse to man. The 
animals which are most susceptible to it are 
the donkey and the mule, though it is not 
uncommon in rabbits, guinea-pigs and even 
sheep, but it is an important fact in this 
country that cattle are immune from the malady. 
The usual form in which glanders appears 
is that in which the respiratory passages are 
observed to be affected. The glands between 
the lower jaws become enlarged and adherent, 
and rather tense and hard, a mucous discharge 
runs from one or both the nostrils, and 
often adheres to the sides like a starchy 
paste. The membrane lining the nos- 
tril changes to a dirty greenish colour and 
ulcers ot a peculiar nature (excavated) appear ; 
there is often a running from the eyes. 
The animal gradually loses condition, all the 
symptoms become more aggravated, and if the 
creature is not destroyed it eventually dies 
a miserable death. In other cases the same 
disease appears iu a form known as Farcy, 
